Liek Hou overcomes illness to triumph in Spain

Cheah’s battled to a straight-game 21-7, 21-13 triumph over Chinese Taipei’s Fang Jeng Yu came despite a massive illness, which saw him suffer from a bad cough and a nose bleed.

“There were a lot of challenges for me to overcome in this tournament as I was not feeling well. I suffered from flu, a bad cough which resulted in a nose bleed due to the extreme cold weather here that went down to -4 Celcius.

“I persevered by taking medicine to reach the final and I managed to win it. I will make this a lesson when I compete in a cold climate,” he said.

The final triumph capped a memorable outing for Cheah, who ousted his Indonesian rival Dheva Anrimusthi twice in this tournament.

The victory was especially sweet for the 34-year-old after he lost at the Spanish Para International Level 2 final to Dheva last month. which ended his 75-match unbeaten streak since 2019.

During the course of his unbeaten run, Cheah had won 14 consecutive titles including at the World Para-Badminton Championships last year.

Cheah, turning 35 on Wednesday, will next compete at the Brazil Para-International next month in his preparation for the Paris Olympics next year to defend his SU5 title.